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Subpoena for Toyota Over Defects in Steering

A federal grand jury in New York has subpoenaed Toyota Motor, seeking information on steering-related defects in its vehicles. The move could widen an investigation into the automaker’s handling of a recall in 2005.

In a short filing on Tuesday with the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Toyota said the subpoena, received by subsidiaries in the United States on June 29, had demanded documents about defects in steering relay rods in the company’s cars.

Toyota intended to “cooperate earnestly” with investigations, the filing said. Toyota had already received two subpoenas this year, one from a grand jury in February for documents related to sudden acceleration and braking and one from the Michigan attorney general in March for information on recalls.

It was not immediately clear what defects — or which models or production years — the latest subpoena concerned. Ririko Takeuchi, a spokeswoman for Toyota based in Tokyo, said the automaker was still clarifying details of the subpoena.

Earlier this year, American regulators said they were investigating a 2005 Toyota recall — for a steering-related problem in vehicles including 4Runners — in connection with a possible breach of rules for alerting the authorities about flaws.

The Transportation Department said in May that it was investigating the timing of the September 2005 recall for steering relay rod defects after an October 2004 recall in Japan for the same flaw. Under American law, carmakers have five days to report safety problems to regulators.

In 2004, Toyota told regulators that the defect was limited to vehicles in Japan and that it had not received reports of similar problems in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

But in late 2005, Toyota told the agency that the steering relay rod defect was present in models sold in the United States, and the company recalled about 977,000 vehicles.

The automaker, based in Toyota City, Japan, has already faced a criminal investigation in Japan over its handling of faulty steering relay rods.

The latest grand jury subpoena comes as Toyota continues an internal investigation into complaints over sticking accelerator pedals and floor mats that interfere with the pedals.

Since November, Toyota has recalled about 8.5 million vehicles worldwide to resolve problems with pedals that stick or get caught under floor mats. In issuing the recalls, Toyota acknowledged the problems but said it had not conducted a thorough review of the complaints.

A version of this article appears in print on July 21, 2010, on page B5 of the New York edition with the headline: Subpoena For Toyota Over Defects In Steering. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe